Asus N550JV-DB72T Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
The Asus N550JV-DB72T strikes an impressive balance, delivering an entertainment laptop with attractive design, good performance, and a gorgeous display—all at a reasonable price. We just wish its battery lasted longer. Read More…

What We Liked…

Well-balanced design for a 15-inch laptop

Brilliant-looking 1080p touch display

Finger-friendly keyboard includes full numeric keypad

What We Didn’t…

Battery lasts just 4 hours and change

Aluminum chassis is susceptible to scratches

Audio can sound distorted despite booming quad-speaker array

Asus N550JV-DB72T Review

Introduction & Design

With a brilliant 1080p touch screen and a slew of entertainment options, it would be easy to expect the Asus N550JV-DB72T to look and feel hefty. But while Asus' desktop replacement is a fairly sizable notebook at 15.1 by 10 by 1.1 inches, it doesn't feel like its 5.7 pounds: While you won't forget that you're carrying something substantial, it's well-balanced enough to be surprisingly portable. And the Asus looks stylish enough to fit in with top-shelf laptops, albeit at a comparatively affordable price.

The N550JV-DB72T we tested runs $1,099, less than the rival Vizio CT15T-B0 at $1,189. The Vizio has better battery life and weighs less than the Asus, but its performance lags behind that of the N550JV. Which summarizes why we liked the N550JV: There may be other 15.6-inch laptops that are lighter in weight, but this one delivers premium design panache alongside an affordable price and strong overall performance.

Stylish and elegant, the N550JV flaunts a premium-looking dark brushed aluminum chassis that Asus claims is durable. It certainly felt solid and sturdy; however, we found the metal finish surprisingly susceptible to scratches. Even the matte underside, made of dark brown plastic, scratched easily, in spite of our taking care with the laptop.

We found the keyboard terrific to type on. Key travel was satisfying, as was the roomy, logical keyboard layout with generously sized Enter, Backspace, and Shift keys. We particularly liked the dedicated numeric pad; the keys there are slightly narrower than the standard keys, but we found the keypad a welcome inclusion and good use of the available real estate. Because we had the numeric pad, the keyboard and touch pad were not centered beneath the display, but that didn't bother us at all.

The silver-on-silver color scheme and backlighting make it hard for hunt-and-peck typists to read, but the keyboard's a pleasure to type on, and the touch pad is a joy to use.

Two more points about the keyboard. One, the keys are painted silver, to match the keyboard deck's aluminum finish. While this enhances the attractive, future-forward design, the keyboard backlight makes the letters tough to read. Letters appear as a warm shade of white seen through the silver, which means the keys are not that distinct in well-lit environments. Aside from that quirk, we appreciated that the backlight didn't bleed through past the island-style keys, as we see on many competing models (including Apple's MacBook Pro).

We found the large (4.5 by 2.9-inch) touch pad convenient to use for gestures, and we loved its smooth glide. It was easy to press, too, unlike some pads we've tried that require just a tad too much pressure.